The
electric force is never mentioned in astronomy although it is the
most powerful force in Nature.
It is dismissed because simplistic electrostatic models do not
match observations.
Yet plasma cosmologists are able to successfully match electrodynamic
models
to observations without conjuring invisible matter and inventing new
forces.

A common mistake when first trying to understand the
Electric Universe is to think in terms of electrostatics.
Experiments with pith balls in Freshman Physics Lab come to mind.
With a little imagination—and by plugging larger numbers into the
equations—a model of “the pith ball sun” can be constructed.

This model is not too different from the familiar
gravitational model. Most of the underlying assumptions are
preserved: an isolated body at equilibrium; a point force
distributed spherically (decreasing with the square of the distance
from the point); conditions of isotropy, continuity and homogeneity.

The central pith ball, if positively charged, will
repel positive ions, generating a “wind” that accelerates away from
the ball, much as is observed with the solar “wind.” And the pith
ball will attract electrons: Because they are so much less massive
than ions, they could be accelerated to relativistic velocities.
With sufficient velocity, their collision with the pith ball could
account for its luminosity.

But spacecraft have not found any relativistic
electrons. And the solar wind seems to be composed of nearly equal
numbers of positive ions and negative electrons. And the ions
practically stop accelerating by the time they reach the orbit of
the Earth. And most of the solar wind is confined to the Sun’s
equatorial plane. And many more items could be listed where the pith
ball model doesn’t correspond with observations.

The Electric Universe model is based on
electrodynamics. And not simply on Freshman Physics electrodynamics
from a textbook but on the electrical behavior of plasma as observed
in laboratories and by spacecraft. Understanding actual plasma
behavior requires rejecting familiar presuppositions: Bodies
immersed in plasma aren’t isolated; they are connected by circuits.
They often aren’t at equilibrium; most astronomical bodies are
radiating energy because they are in unstable conditions and are
moving toward equilibrium. Currents in plasma contract into linear
filaments; and the force between filaments decreases linearly with
distance, which makes it the most powerful long-range force in the
universe. Plasma divides into cells that are separated by
capacitor-like double layers; and this ensures that plasma phenomena
are characterized by conditions of non-isotropy, discontinuity and
inhomogeneity.

Assumptions and
deductions imported from the “already known” of gravitational theory
will lead to confusion and absurdity. As astronomer Halton Arp said
in another context: “Sometimes it’s better not to know one wrong
thing than to know a hundred things that are right.” The first step
in understanding electricity in space is to set aside theories and
to gain empirical familiarity with real plasma behavior. It is a
step advocated by the father of plasma physics, Hannes Alfvén, in
his 1970 Nobel Prize acceptance speech.